Fabrication of woven wire fencing incorporating slats



May 27, 1969 H. E. ROHRBACHER 3,446,254 FABRICATION 0F WOVEN WIREFENCING INGORPORATING SLATS Filed Aug. "7, 1967 Sheet of 3 May 27, 1969FABRICAT ION OF WOVEN WIRE FENCING Filed Aug. 7, 1967 INCORPORATINGSLATS Sheet 2 era May 27, 1969 Sheet INCORPORATING SLATS Filed Aug 7.1967 l r J 1 W V a w M w W W m a r d 4 M Mm, w l m ILX I Il.| m -i U 1HUM H W Q m QNV H A unn wm A II \N I M. N\ NWHT km? M 3 hivm UnitedStates Patent 3,446,254 FABRICATION 0F WOVEN WIRE FENCING INCORPORATINGSLATS Herbert E. Rohrbacher, Whittier, Calif., assignor to BergandiManufacturing Company, Inc., El Monte, Calif., a corporation ofCalifornia Filed Aug. 7, 1967, Ser. No. 658,819

Int. Cl. B2lf 29/02 US. Cl. 140-27 19 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSUREBackground of the invention Heavy woven wire fencing of the chain-linktype is commonly fabricated by machines such as disclosed in theBergandi Patent 2,625,961 and the Bergandi et al. Patent 3,144,887issued Aug. 18, 1964, which two patents are hereby incorporated into thepresent disclosure by reference.

In the fabrication procedure taught by the two patents, two coils ofwire are wound simultaneously on a revolving mandrel with the two coilsinterlinked as they are formed and then the two interlinked coils areadvanced into interlinking engagement with previously formed coils ofthe completed fencing. The woven fencing is advanced intermittently withpauses for the addition of pairs of coils and during each pause means ata station along the path of advance of the finished fabric functions totwist wire ends together at the opposite longitudinal edges of thefencing. 7

As such woven wire fencing is viewed edgewise along a longitudinal sideedge, the individual coils of the interlinked series of coils are seento form transverse passages that are open at both side edges of thefencing. It has been found that inserting slats into these transversepassages results in a fencing structure that is especially useful fordividing highways since the slats are effective to cut off the glare ofthe headlights of oncoming cars. Because of this special utility thedemand for fencing incorporating slats has become widespread withrapidly mounting production figures. Unfortunately, however, the methodsheretofore employed for incorporating the slats into the fencing arerelatively expensive.

One procedure that has been followed is simply to stop the wire weavingmachine periodically to permit several feet of the finished fencing tobe stretched out on the floor so that workmen can insert the slats byhand while the machine is idle. Another procedure is to guide thefinished chain link fabric over an extensive vertical path as thefencing leaves the coil-forming mandrel and to stop the machineperiodically to permit manual insertion of the slats while the machineis idle.

Since a machine is inherently capable of fabricating wire fencing at arapid rate, production is severly penalized by periodically stopping themachine for the insertion of slats manually. The pressing need is for afabrication procedure that incorporates slats into the fencing withoutthe penalty of decreasing the rate of fabrication of the fencing. Thepresent invention meets this need and in cycle of operation produces twosuccessive coils of the 3,446,254 Patented May 27, 1969 doing so greatlyreduces the cost of producing slatted wire fencing.

Summary of the invention From the initial wire weaving station at therotating mandrel, the fencing moves past a second station where pairs ofwire ends on the opposite longitudinal edges of the fencing are twistedtogether and then the finished fabric moves in a horizontal path past aslat station where pairs of slats are inserted during pauses in theintermittent advance of the fencing. At the slat station a magazineholds two stacks of slats side-by-side and periodically pusher elementson an endless sprocket chain push a pair of slats endwise from themagazine into the transverse passages of the woven wire fencing. Inpreparation for the slat-inserting operation, What may be termed a guidehead temporarily advances from the leading end of the slat magazine toengage the woven wire fencing to serve as means to guide the pair ofslats into a pair of coils or transverse passages of the fencing.

The cycle of operation of the fabricating machine is governed by a timerwhich periodically advances the woven fencing after a pause for theaddition of a pair of coils of wire to the fabric at the weavingstation. The timer provides a suiiicient time interval for the wireweaving operation and the concurrent slat-inserting operation. In theevent a safety switch fails to be tripped by the complete insertion of apair of slats, the timer is automatically rendered ineffective and themachine stops.

By virture of the described mode of operation, the slat-insertingmechanism operates concurrently with the Weaving mechanism to providethe fencing with slats as fast as the fencing is woven. In comparisonwith the abovementioned prior procedures for fabricating slattedfencing, the invention increases the rate of production as much asfourfold. In addition, only one man is required to run the machine andto keep the magazine supplied with slats, whereas three men are requiredto carry out the previous fabrication procedures.

The features and advantages of the invention may be understood from thefollowing detailed description to gether with the accompanying drawings.

Brief description of the drawings In the drawings, which are to beregarded as merely illustrative:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary elevational view showing the slat magazine andthe mechanism for periodically inserting pairs of slats into thefinished fencing;

FIG. 2 is an elevational view of the leading end of the magazine as seenalong the line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view showing how a pair of guideplates cooperate to stabilize the fencing in the region of the slatmagazine;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary plan view in the region of the magazine showinga pair of newly inserted slats in the wire fencing; and

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary elevational view showing how a dual stapleranchors the slats to the wire fencing at a fourth station beyond theslat magazine.

Description of the preferred embodiment General arrangement In a mannerthat is typical of machines of this particular type, a power drivenrotary mandrel (not shown) is part of a cyclic mechanism that fabricatesthe woven wire fencing. Two spaced wires are wound simultaneously on themandrel in such a manner that the result is two interlinked coils ofwire and these two coils are linked with the finished fabric as they areformed. Thus each 3 woven wire fabric at a weaving station and at asecond adjacent station pairs of cut wire ends at the opposite ends .ofthe newly woven fabric are twisted together to unite the loose wireends. The wire fencing is advanced intermittently along a given pathwith pauses in the advance for the weaving of new pairs of coils.

In the present embodiment of the invention, the woven wire fencingadvances vertically upward from the weaving station and the adjacentwire twisting station and then as indicated in FIG. 1 changes directionover a guide means to travel horizontally past a slat-insertion stationrepresented by a slat magazine, generally designated 12 and then 'past astapling station which is represented by a dual stapler,generallydesignated 14.

When the traveling woven wire fencing pauses intermitte'ntlyQa guidehead, generally designated 15, (FIGS. 1' and 4) is actuated by asolenoid '16 for extension from the slat magazine 12 into engagementwith a pair of coils of the wire fencing to facilitate insertion of apair of-slats into the wire fencing. The slat magazine 12 contains twostacks of the slats S side-by-side and a pair of pusher blocks 18 on apair of endless sprocket chains 20 periodically engages the outer endsof the lower slats of the two stacks and pushes the two slats throughthe advanced guide head into the woven fencing. After the pair of slatsis fully inserted, the guide head 15 retracts and the cyclic mechanismadvances the woven fencing another step. At each pause the dual stapler14 at the stapler station applies staples to the newly added pair ofslats to anchor the slats to the wire fencing.

FIG. 1 shows diagrammatically the timer 22 which is operatedautomatically at the end of each weaving cycle to initiate a new weavingcycle. The timer 22 is controlled by a microswitch 24 which ismechanically actuated by the cyclic mechanism. In this embodiment of theinvention the microswitch 24 is operated by a cam or projection 25 on ashaft 26 at the wire-twisting station, which shaft mallres a completerotation in the course of each operating cyc e.

The timer 22 provides a time interval that is adequate for the cycle ofthe weaving operation and is adequate to permit the insertion of a pairof slats from the slat magazine 12. At the proper time in the operatingcycle, the solenoid 16 is energized to advance the guide head 15 andthen the pair of sprocket chains are actuated to cause a pair of thepusher blocks 18 to insert a new pair of slats into the woven wirefencing.

The extension of the guide head 15 operates a safety switch 28 shown inFIG. 1 and when a pair of pusher blocks 18 advances far enough forcompletely inserting a pair of slats into the woven fencing, a secondpair of returning pusher blocks mechanically operates a microswitch 30to cause the de-energization of the solenoid 16 and consequent springactuated return of the guide head 15. The return of the guide head 15releases the safety switch 28. In the event that the safety switch 28 isnot released by return of the guide head 15, the safety switch preventsinitiation of a new cycle by the timer and thus stops themachine whenmalfunctioning of the slat-inserting means occurs.

Only a single workman is required to supervise the operation of themachine and in addition to keep the slat magazine 12 replenished withnew slats. If the machine stops automatically because of malfunctioningof the slatinserting .mechanism or because of malfunctioning of otherparts of the machine that are operatively associated with correspondingsafety switches, the workman takes the necessary steps to correct thesituation with minimum loss of production time. Ordinarily the rate ofproduction of the wire fencing with incorporated slats is substantiallythe rate of production of conventional wire fencing without slats.Structural details The slat magazine 12 shown inFIGS. 1, 2 and 4includes spaced upright members 32 which confine two sup- 20 stopwithout 4 ply stacks of the slats S side-by-side. The floor of themagazine has longitudinal openings or slots (not shown) through thepusher blocks 18 travel to push on the rear or outer ends of the slatsof the two stacks.

For actuating the two sprocket chains 20, a motor 24 actuates a driveshaft 35 by reduction gearing in a gear box 36 and a drive sprocket 38is operatively connected to the drive shaft by a friction clutch 40which is adjustable by means of a nut 42. If the load on thedrivesprocket 38 rises unduly, the friction clutch slips. Thus if theadvancing slats meet an obstacle, the two sprocket chains incurringdamage to the machine parts.

As shown in FIG. 1 the drive sprocket 38 is connected by a sprocketchain 44 to a sprocket 45 on a shaft 46, the sprocket being directlyconnected to a'pair of drive sprockets 48 on the chain shaft thatactuate the tWo sprocket chains 20 respectively of the magazinemechanism. The shaft 46 is journalled in a bracket 50 on the front endof the magazine which bracket is forwardly adjustable. In theconstruction shown, the bracket 50 has two arms 52 on opposite sides ofthe magazine structure which are formed with slots 54 to receivecorresponding studs 55 that carry corresponding nuts 56. At the rear orouter end of the magazine structure a second similar adjustable bracket50 journals a shaft that carries a pair of idler sprockets 62 for thetwo sprocket chains 20 respectively. It is apparent that the twobrackets 50 and 58 may be adjusted to vary the position of the twosprocket chains 20 relative to the woven fencing thereby to adjust theextent to which the pusher blocks 18 insert the slats into the wovenfencing.

It is to be noted that there are two pairs of the pusher blocks 18 withthe two pairs at equal spacing on the two sprocket chains 20. When onepair of pusher blocks is moving forward to push a pair of slats into thewoven fabric, the other pair of pusher blocks is returning on the lowerflights of the sprocket chains towards the switch 30, the switch 30being located to allow for coasting of the pusher blocks to a sto As maybe seen in FIG. 4, the guide head 15 is tapered in plan to form atapered nose 64 to facilitate insertion of the guide head into theentrance to a pair of coils or transverse passages of the woven wirefencing. As shown in plan in FIG. 4 the two opposite sides of such anentrance are defined by two spaced twisted wire joints 65 whereconverging wire ends come together. As shown in FIG. 2 the guide head 15has two pairs of longitudinal flanges 66 for sliding support of a pairof slats S, the flanges being spaced to clear the path of the pusherblocks 18.

' A fixed vertical plate 68 is spaced forward from the magazine 12 andis supported from the magazine by a pair of parallel horizontal arms 70and a lower guide rod 72. The guide head 15 is mounted on the undersideof a carriage 74 that is slidingly confined by the two arms 70 and isslidingly mounted on the guide rod72. As shown in FIG. 1, the previouslymentioned safety switch 28 is mounted on the rear face of the verticalplate 68 and is actuated by an operating finger 75 that is fixedlymounted on the upper side of the carriage 74.

The previously mentioned solenoid 16 is mounted on the forward end ofthe magazine 12 and the armature 76 0f the solenoid is connected by alink 78 with one arm of a lever 82 that is pivotally mounted on a fixedbracket 84. The second arm of the lever 82 is connected by a link 85 tothe forward end of the carriage 74 so that retraction of the armature 76by energization of the solenoid 18 causes the guide head 15 to advanceinto engagement with an entrance to a pair of coils or transversepassages of the woven wire fencing with consequent operation of thesafety switch 28. A suitable coil spring 86 connected to the lever 82continuously urges retraction of the guide head 15.

Mounted on pivot pins 88 (FIG. 4) on opposite sides of the guide head 15is a pair of spreader fingers 90 the function of which is to engageopposite sides of the entrance to a pair of coils or transverse passagesof the woven fencing to make sure that the entrance is spreadsufficiently to receive the pair of slats. Normally the spreader fingersare held in the retracted positions shown in FIG. 4 by means of suitablesprings (not shown) with the two spreader fingers in the path of advanceof the pair of slats. With the guide head advanced into engagement withthe wire fencing, the subsequent advance of the two slats causes theslats to brush the fingers 90 to one side thus causing the fingers toswing to the positions shown at 90a in FIG. 4 for spreading actionagainst the wire fencing.

To make sure that the wire fencing is in the same plane with the guidehead, the woven wire fencing may be suitably confined in the region ofthe slat-insertion station. For this purpose an upper guide plate 92shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 cooperates with a lower guide plate 84 to confinethe woven wire fabric from opposite sides.

Since it is possible that a pair of slats may be advanced too far andthus protrude from the far edge of the woven wire fabric, a suitablestop plate 95 may be provided adjacent the far side of the Woven fencingas shown in FIG. 4. A portion 95a of the stop plate that is positioneddirectly opposite the magazine 12 converges on the path of travel of thewoven wire fencing and leads to a second portion 95b that is immediatelyadjacent the path. Thus if an inserted slat protrudes beyond the farside of the Woven fabric at the slat-insertion station, the portion 95aof the stop plate 95 will function as a cam to retract the slat to itsproper position in response to advance of the slat to the staplingstation.

At the stapling station, the dual stapler 14 comprises a pair of staplerunits 96 mounted on a common support 98. In FIG. 5 the dual stapler ispoised above the woven wire fabric and an anvil plate 100 is positionedbelow the woven wire fencing to limit the displacement of the fencing bythe operation of the dual stapler. Each of the two stapler units 96drives a staple 102 into the corresponding slat with the staplepositioned to straddle a diagonal wire 104 of the woven fencing. Thedual stapler operates automatically during each pause in advance of thewoven fencing.

Our description in specific detail of the presently preferred embodimentof the invention will suggest various changes, substitutions and otherdepartures from my disclosure within the spirit and scope of theappended claims.

I claim: 1. In an apparatus for weaving wire fencing of interlinked wirecoils wherein the apparatus advances the finished woven fabriclongitudinally intermittently along the given path and cyclic mechanismweaves a new coil into the fabric at each pause in the advance, theimprovement for inserting slats into the coils of the finished fabric,comprising:

magazine means at an insertion station alongside said path adjacent aside edge of the finished fabric; and

means responsive to said cyclic mechanism and operative through a cycleat pauses in the advance of the finished fabric to insert slats fromsaid magazine means endwise into the coils of the fabric,

whereby the wire fabric is equipped with slats concurrently with theweaving of the fabric.

2. An improvement as set forth in claim 1 which includes guide means atsaid insertion station to facilitate the insertion of the slats into thecoils of the finished fabric.

3. An improvement as set forth in claim 2 in which said guide meansincludes means to confine the woven fabric against displacement out ofits plane at the insertion station.

4. An improvement as set forth in claim 2 in which said guide meansincludes cyclic means to engage the entrance of the coils of the wovenfabric to facilitate entry of the slats into the coils.

5. An improvement as set forth in claim 1 which includes meansresponsive to operation of said slat-inserting means to preventcontinued operation of said cyclic mechanism when the slat-insertingmeans fails to complete its cycle.

6. An improvement as set forth in claim 1 which includes means operativeat pauses in the advance of the woven fabric to anchor the insertedslats to the woven fabric.

7. An improvement as set forth in claim 6 in which said anchored meansincludes stapling means and cooperative anvil means.

8. An improvement as set forth in claim 1 which includes power means tooperate said slat-inserting means and in which the power means isoperatively connected to the slat-inserting means by friction clutchmeans that slips in the event that obstacles prevent complete insertionof the slats.

9. In an apparatus for weaving wire fencing of inter linked wire coilswherein the apparatus advances the woven fencing longitudinallyintermittently along a given path and cyclic mechanism weaves anaddition to the fencing at each pause in the advance, the improvementfor inserting slats into the coils of the fencing, comprising:

magazine means to hold a supply of slats at an insertion stationalongside said path adjacent a side edge of the fencing;

a guide head extendible from said magazine means into engagement withthe entrances of the coils of the fencing to facilitate insertion ofslats into the coils;

means operative through cycles at pauses in the advance of the fencingto insert slats from said magazine means endwise through said guide headinto th fencing; means to extend said guide head during pauses in theadvance of the finished fencing;

means to operate said slat inserting means when the guide head isadvanced; and

means to retract the guide head after the slats are completely insertedinto the fencing.

10. An improvement as set forth in claim 9 which includes guide fingerson said guide head to engage the entrances of the coils of the wovenfencing to facilitate insertion of the slats into the coils.

11. An improvement as set forth in claim 10 in which the leading ends ofthe slats operate said guide fingers by cam action for spreading effecton the entrances to the coils of the woven fencing.

12. An improvement as set forth in claim 9 which includes meansresponsive to extension of said guide head to prevent continuedoperation of said cyclic mechanism in the event that the guide headfails to retract.

13. An improvement as set forth in claim 9 which includes means to sensecompletion of the insertion of the slats into the coils of the wovenfabric; and

in which said means to retract the guide head is responsive to saidsensing means.

14. In an apparatus for weaving wire fencing of interlinked wire coilswherein the apparatus advances the finished fencing longitudinallyintermittently along a path and cyclic mechanism weaves a pair of newcoils into the fencing at each pause in the advance of the fabric,

the improvement for inserting slats into the coils of the finishedfabric, comprising:

magazine means at an insertion station alongside said path adjacent aside edge of the finished fabric to hold a supply of pairs of slats;

means responsive to said cyclic mechanism and operative through a cycleat each pause in the advance of the woven fabric to insert a pair ofslats from said magazine endwise into a pair of coils of the fencing,

whereby the fencing is equipped with pairs of slats as fast as pairs ofcoils of wire are added to the fabric.

15. An improvement as set forth in claim 14 which includes guide meansat said insertion station to facilitate the insertion of a pair of theslats into a pair of the coils of the woven fabric.

16. An improvement as set forth in claim 14 which includes a guide headextensible from said magazine into engagement with the entrances of apair of coils of the fabric to facilitate insertion of a pair of slatsinto the pair of coils; and

which includes means responsive to said cyclic mechanism to extend saidguide head at pauses in the advance of the woven fabric prior to theoperation of the slat-inserting means.

17. An improvement as set forth in claim 16 which includes means tosense completion of the insertion of a pair of slats into the wovenfabric; and

which includes means to retract the guide head in respouse to saidsensing means.

18. An improvement as set forth in claim 17 which includes meansresponsive to advance of the guide head to prevent continuation of theoperation of the cyclic mechanism in the event of incomplete insertionof the slats into the woven fabric.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2/1888 Heberling, et al. 140278/1957 Rice 25634 Cole et a1. 140-25 CHARLES W. LANHAM, PrimaryExaminer. LOWELL A. LARSON, Assistant Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R.

